Taxes totaling 23.9 billion won assessed against 17 YouTubers last year; average of 1.4 billion won per person

[Financial News] A total of 23.9 billion won in taxes was assessed against 17 YouTubers who underwent tax audits last year. The average was about 1.4 billion won per person. Although the number of people audited fell from the previous year, the amount assessed increased sharply.
According to data on the results of targeted tax audits of YouTubers from 2019 to 2025, submitted by the National Tax Service (NTS) at the request of Jung Tae-ho, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker on the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea’s Finance, Economy and Planning Committee, regional tax offices audited 84 YouTubers during that period.
The total amount assessed over the seven years was 47.5 billion won, an average of about 565 million won per person. The assessed taxes included not only taxes on YouTube income but also taxes on the business owners’ other business income.
The number of people audited rose from a total of 22 over the four-year period from 2019 to 2022 to 24 in 2023 alone. It then fell to 21 in 2024 and 17 last year.
The amount assessed was 5.6 billion won from 2019 to 2022, followed by 9.1 billion won in 2023, 8.9 billion won in 2024 and 23.9 billion won last year. Last year’s assessment was about 2.7 times the previous year’s amount.
The NTS announced in February this year that it would conduct tax audits on 16 business operators, including YouTubers, suspected of tax evasion. The targets included three malicious cyber wreckers, seven YouTubers in the real estate and tax fields, and six businesses operated by YouTubers who distributed false or inappropriate content.
Jung said, "Large-scale tax evasion cases continue to be uncovered in individual revenue streams, such as donations, earned by one-person media creators including YouTubers. We must encourage accurate reporting to prevent tax blind spots while continuing to address institutional shortcomings."

[email protected] Jang In-seo Reporter